Unforgivable
by Batmanskipper
Summary: Heading back from a mission, Jason rescues, and befriends, a young girl named Suzy. Three days later she's murdered, Jason arriving too late to save her. He tracks down her killer, eventually killing him in revenge, but is everything as it seems? What if he killed the wrong man?


Jason chased the man through the maze of shipping containers. Jason's quarry was breathing heavily, almost exhausted and chilled by the freezing rain that had been pelting down on Gotham all night. Finally, the man reached a dead end; his eyes like those of a trapped animal, a cry of despair escaping his lips. Jason raised his gun, pointing it directly at the cringing man. As much as he wanted to take his time, especially after what this man had done, but bats were almost on top of him, so he was going to have to work fast.

"Why… why…" the man stuttered.

"Pretending to be confused?" Jason spat, the rain causing a dull pattering sound on the inside of his helmet, "It won't save you. Not from me," the man stared at the rage driven antihero, continuing his act. It wasn't rare; Jason had seen it all before. His type was always _innocent_.

_Jason jumped from rooftop to roof top of the wealthy suburban neighbourhood. What was he doing here? Well, that was a question Jason was currently asking himself. He'd originally deviated from his usual patrol route to intimidate some of his 'employees' he suspected of selling to kids, not much evidence, just a hunch. The meeting had taken longer than expected; it was now starting to near daylight, and he was on the opposite side of Gotham to his safe house._

_"HELP! Please, leave me alone!" a child's voice screamed. Immediately, Jason was alert. He followed the sound of the shouting to the back of one of the houses, "Leave me alone!" the girl, no more than eight, ran down the back street as fast as she could. She was pursued by three thugs, the types Jason didn't expect to see in this area, especially at 5.00 in the morning. Jason didn't exactly consider that though. Those bastards were hurting a kid. He dropped down from the roof top, landing between the thugs and the girl. _

_He'd grabbed the girl before the thugs had time to comprehend what was happening._

_"Hang on, kid." He ordered, grappling to the next rooftop, where he left the girl. Sure, putting a kid her age on a roof wasn't exactly the smartest idea, but he couldn't exactly let her watch what he was about to do to her pursuers._

_"Hey, where the hell'd he go?" One of the thugs looked about._

_"Yeah, coward, we're gonna tear you apart!" the other thug concurred trying to sound tough. They always tried to sound tough. _

_"Screw it, let's get out of here." The third shouted nervously._

_Suddenly Jason dropped down from the rooftop behind the thugs. They'd barely turned around when two of the three dropped to the ground, one already dead, the other dying. Well, you only needed one of them to interrogate. The thug who was still alive did the only sane thing he could, running off down the street, hoping to lose his pursuer. Two shots were fired. The thug was knocked to the ground, blood streaming from his kneecaps. The criminal screamed in pain and fear; it was well known throughout Gotham who the Red Hood was, and what he did to anyone who hurt a kid. Out of sheer desperation the man continued to try to drag himself away, though walking at a leisurely pace, Jason quickly caught up to him. He ground his heavy boot into one of the man's wounds, making him scream even more._

_"Why were you after the kid?" Jason barked._

_"I… I ain' tellin' you nothin'." The thug replied, still trying to seem 'tough'._

_"Why were you after the kid?" Jason repeated, increasing the pressure on the wound. The criminal continued to writhe in pain, but said nothing useful, "You might have heard the stories of what happens to people who get on the wrong side of me," Jason threatened, "If you haven't, they're not very… " Jason dodged the unexpected shot by barely a millimetre. The thug had pulled a gun from the waistband of his trousers, and fired at him. Jason made a grab for the gun, pushing it away from himself, just as the gun fired. The thug's head splattered onto the sidewalk, "Damn it," Jason muttered, "Rookie mistake." Well, so much for the information._

"You couldn't bear to get your own pretty hands dirty," Jason's voice trembled slightly, "You sent your boss's hired thugs after her!"

"I don't know what you're talking about!"

"Of course you do," the killer's eyes were a brilliant blue. Just like Suzy's.

_Jason climbed to the roof top he'd left the girl on, to see her seated exactly where he'd left her, tears streaming down her eyes. Suddenly, sighting the antihero, she screamed, stumbling backwards, dangerously close to the edge of the roof. Jason lunged forward, grabbing her before she could fall. She continued to scream. Jason had to admit, he was pretty surprised nobody had called the police yet._

_"Hey, kid, you're safe." Jason comforted awkwardly. The girl stared at him, as if he was some kind of horrible creature (or Batman)._

_"Go away!" She screamed, fighting against his grip. It was then Jason realised what it was that was scaring her. He removed his helmet, placing it next to him, and holstered his gun, still splattered with blood from the girls two pursuers he'd shot at close range._

_"Shhhhh it's okay," The girl stared at him, realising he was human. Jason too, seemed to be at a loss for words. He wasn't good with kids. _

_Suddenly, the girl dived forward, clinging to him like her life depended on it, tears streaming down her face. _

_"It's okay, they won't hurt you again." Jason muttered quietly, noting just how much he sounded like Dick. Finally after about a minute the girl started to calm down, and looked up at him, her sapphire blue eyes wide with fear, but also gratitude, "Why were they after you?"_

_"Mommy… Mommy said they're daddy's men," She choked back, "They… they just came out of nowhere… and… and…"_

_"They won't come back." Jason reassured grimly, his tone and dead certainty only scaring the kid more._

_"Mommy… said that, but they…"_

_"I won't let them come back." Jason repeated. The silence continued, "Shit, I'm bad with kids." Jason cursed under his breath._

_"No naughty words." Suzy scolded. Her almost cartoonish frown an imitation of what was probably her mother's. Jason had to smile. It reminded him of what Alfred said he was like when he was a kid, just the other way around._

_"Sorry," Jason apologised, feeling kind of stupid. He just hoped she didn't repeat that to her mother._

_"I forgive you." The kid answered. Jason's expression saddened slightly. He had to envy her innocence. If only it was always that simple; just say sorry and it's all better, "So, what's your name?"_

_"S… Suzy," The girl answered, "What's yours?"_

_"Uh… John," Jason replied. The little girl smiled at him, her blue eyes sparkling in the early daylight, "I'm going to take you back to your mommy now, Suzy." Jason stood up, the girl still holding his hand. He wasn't going to let anything happen to her._

"I had to say, I grew kinda fond of the kid," the memories fuelled Jason's anger even more. To say he was fond of the kid was an understatement.

"You're crazy!"

_Jason had looked into her mysterious 'daddy', though found nothing amiss. He was a reputable and successful business man based in Metropolis, named Alexander Grey, with no criminal record or known connections to criminals. Jason had to wonder why he didn't move his family to Metropolis; Gotham wasn't the best place for a family. Grey worked much of the time and often had to leave on business trips, though when he did come home; it was always seemed a joyous event. _

_The next two nights, at the beginning of his patrol, Jason stopped by Suzy's house, intending to clarify just why her father wanted to kill her. He'd wanted to press for more details before he took her home, but she was barely keeping herself together. However, both nights he never had a clear opportunity to speak to the girl without her mother around. He'd considered questioning her when she wasn't alone, but he'd probably end up with nothing but headlines saying 'Mysterious Red Hood stalks eight year old girl'. That wouldn't be too good for his reputation, and would cause a most likely destructive encounter with Bruce. He was better off watching for now. Both nights he stood on the roof top across from her staying long enough to watch her mother read her a story and fall asleep. The second time, she spotted him, and waved. Jason waved back. Twice a new set of thugs returned, always when the father was in Metropolis, but both times Jason had beaten them back without drawing attention to himself._

"What do you keep ranting about!?" the man backed against the containers demanded.

"I saw everything, Grey. I never realised what you had done until I saw you walk into the kitchen, holding up the knife dripping with blood. I matched the fingerprints on the knife to you. Don't try to lie. I saw everything."

_Jason jumped down from the opposite roof top, racing after the fugitive, just in time to see him drive away. Jason took aim, trying to shoot the driver._

_Beep! Beep!_

_Jason dived to the side as the truck charged down the street. Jason fired after the disappearing car, but it was already out of range. He ran towards the house, kicking down the door. First he checked the kitchen. The bloodied knife lay on the table, but otherwise the room was empty. He turned around, entering the living room. _

_"No…" Jason had a feeling he knew what he'd see, he just didn't want to, but that didn't make it any easier when he saw it. Suzy lay, alongside her mother, an expression of absolute terror forever frozen on her face, "No… Suzy…" The corner of Suzy's mouth twitched slightly._

_"I'm… scared…" She barely croaked. Jason could tell from her injuries, there was nothing he could do, not even if he could somehow teleport to the hospital. It reminded Jason of his final minutes, struggling with the locked door as the bomb counted down almost in slow motion: taunting him. He remembered desperately trying to convince himself Bruce would come. Maybe Suzy was waiting for him to arrive. He could – should have – gotten there in time, he was on the opposite roof top, but he didn't._

_"I'm… sorry." Jason whispered back. He held her hand, just like he wished someone had held his hand the day he died. It was the only thing left he could do._

_"Forgive you…"_

"It didn't take me long to find out where you were hiding," Jason continued, "I nearly killed you that night you went into that bar, but you were more valuable alive. You could lead me to the boss. Well, I've found him now. I think you get the point."

"Jason, no!" Tim's familiar voice shouted behind him, but Jason had already pulled the trigger. Jason turned around, too angry to put on his signature smirk.

"And so the Pretender is here to haul me to Arkham." Jason muttered. There was no way he was going to go be locked up. What had happened to Suzy only proved how much this city needed clearing up, something he obviously couldn't entrust to Batman and allies, "I can't believe even you would have let this scum live, after murdering his wife and daughter."

"But he didn't."


End file.
